When I was a kid I'd get off the school bus and rush into the house to the best smells.  My mom was, (and still is), an amazing cook and always had something truly home-made bubbling on the stove.  This was our time...time to chat, time to laugh - time to share our days with each other.

To this day I make my mom's recipes and they still remind me of being a child.  The smells bring back the feelings of comfort, of home and most of all of love.  Luckily my mom and I cooked together a lot when I was a kid...so I do pretty well in the kitchen myself thanks to her instruction.

And now, I cook with my ten year old daughter.  We started cooking together when she was about four, and the first thing we made was meatballs.  So that's part of the reason meatballs matter, but not all of it.  You see when she was four she loved to squish the meat...and that's about it.  As she got older, (with mom doing most of it) she would add the ingredients.  Tonight, we made meatballs again - but this time she did it on her own.  All of it.  On. Her. Own. 

As I watched this beautiful child, who is quickly becoming a young lady, make the same recipe I used to make with my mom I got a rush of pure joy... (And yes mommy sentimental misty eyes too).  She's growing up and oh how the time flies!  She amazes me, and I am so proud of her.  She's smart, beautiful, loving...and happy…even when happy isn’t easy.  And strong, which I’m sure she gets from her mother and her grandmother alike.  I couldn't ask for more.

I will cherish these moments and hope that making meatballs will always matter to her because it’s our time to be together - to talk, to laugh, to share our crazy days.  In the end, the meatballs were out of this world delicious, but what mattered most was the laughter.

And, thanks mom for teaching me to cook, and teaching me what’s really important.  I still love making meatballs with you, and always will.

What?  White plates?  What does that have to do with anything?  Well, somehow white plates became an important symbol for me, I want to tell you why and hope that you find your symbol for the New Year.

I'd been shopping for plates for quite awhile - about 6 months.  I looked at round, square, colorful, plain, heavy ones light ones - there were too many choices and I simply couldn't decide!  Then I found these modern, white, simple square plates.  The versatility and longevity of them appealed to me, so I purchased them - yeah finally!

So today, I took a carload of items to donate, and inside a box were my old plates.  They were chipped and worn, some were missing.  But more than that they held memories from the past, memories that were not healthy, not positive, not good.  They had been a wedding gift more than 10 years ago, and every day they seemed to just be there - staring at me - reminding me of what had been.  

As I handed them off to the donation center, and drove away I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders.  This wasn't really about plates at all.  Letting go of the past allows us to move forward to our futures, and I needed to do that.  More over those white plates represented a clean slate in my life.  A fresh start.

As the New Year begins I wish not only my friends but also those who have not always been friends at all - peace, and joy.  Why you ask?  Why would someone wish their "enemies" joy?  Because it's time to let go, it's time to heal, it's time to start fresh.  Dear Past, Thank you for all the life lessons.  Dear Future, I'm ready now.

Tonight I'll raise my glass of champaign and toast my plates, my new love,  my new life, my discovery of joy.  I hope all of you do the same.

So you've figured out that content is king.  No surprise here.  Content does a lot for your company and your website.   It can be your best friend, or the monster that keeps you awake at night.  Why?  Content marketing only works if it's valid, correct, well-written and there is a steady stream of it.  Let's check out both sides.

On the plus side:

• Content positions you as the authority in your space...allowing you to be the expert and giving your brand more value in the minds of buyers and prospective buyers alike.
• Content helps your website SEO - search engine crawlers love content, your ratings go up instantly - and the more the better!
• Content can become a "go to" for your own employees - nothing wrong with having an internal knowledge base.
• Content directly impacts leads and sales.  Notice all those "free" downloadable white papers?  They are informative and helpful, (if they are done well), and they are designed to get potential customers' information for future marketing use.  Nothings ever really free right?

Now that we've got that covered your probably thinking to yourself - perfect!  I'll start a blog, an eNewsletter, a series of white papers, articles or vlogs and I'll be rolling in loyal customers and hot prospects in no time!

Its true, all of this could happen.  But, don't say I didn't warn you.  You need to have a plan before you start...one that takes you well beyond the first few weeks of your content marketing program.

First off, you should know content is hard, it's time consuming to do well, and it's difficult and expensive to farm out. 

Why?  Well, believe it or not well written anything takes time.  Time to source, time to research and frankly it's hard to produce.  As easy as some make it look putting words to screen in a way that correctly communicates your message is a science.  Not everyone does it well.  So if you are thinking of handing it off to "Bob" who has been around forever and knows lots about your product, beware.  Product knowledge is great, that is if Bob can actually write.  On the other side of the coin you can certainly hire a free-lance writer to do your content creation for you.  Problem solved, right?  Well, sorta.  Depending on your industry finding someone who knows the ins and outs can be next to impossible.  If you do plan to go that route, make sure you bake lots of time and extra dollars into getting that person up to speed on the nuances.  The worst mistake you can make here is to simply "hand it off" thinking a professional writer will wave a magic wand and you don't need to be involved.  Can they write? Absolutely!  However, if they don't have lots of input from you, or know your industry from previous experience it could result in disaster.

Doing content is one thing, doing it well is another.  You can't just write promotional copy, or throw your already canned advertising copy out there, or even directly tout your own product.  It's sublte, it's the "soft sell" of the cycle.  Here's an example:  I'm currently working on several projects during my day job...two of which include choosing software systems, (yeah I know not really marketing but we all wear lots of hats).  Since this isn't really in my background I need resources to get up to speed.  I scan the internet, I download a white paper titled "How To Evaluate And Choose Your Next CRM System".  Awesome, just what I need!  

However, after foolishly giving up my name, title, phone and email address I am sorely disappointed.  The entire paper isn't at all what the title claims it to be, it's simply a really long advertisement for the company that is selling the software, and even worse it's all about them.  Ugh.  Now I'm frustrated, I wasted my time AND they have my info!  How do you think it went when that sales person called me?  Hint: not well.  Turn that same scenario around.  Had the paper been helpful, well thought out, well written and not centered soley on the company writing it ...in other words actually conducive to my needs - how do you think I would have responded to that sales call?  Houston we have a winner!  Its about giving your customers what they want and need, in a format they find useful.  You are not the sun, everything does not revolve around you.  Simply put to do content marketing well you need to get over yourself.

Feeding the monster can be the toughest hurdle to climb.  What does that mean?  Once you've created this content black-hole (aka your blog, video stream, eNewsletter etc.) it has to be fed - well and regularly.  This takes some serious planning and strategic thinking.  Consider the following:

• How much content will you need for the monster to live for the next 6 months?
• What resources do you have to fill that need on a consistent basis...every day, week, month?
• If it's a regularly intervaled communication (which I highly recommend) do you have a back up plan for content?  What if the person responsible becomes unavailable?  What is your plan B?
• How can you get ahead of the monster? I try to have 2-3 extra issues "in the can". Is that possible for you?
• What are you going to talk about?  Develop an editorial plan that details your content for at least three months ahead.  That way you can certainly shift topics as things come up and your business changes but you still have a solid foundation to stand on.  When doing this consider "evergreen" topics that will still be valid a week or a year from now.  Sprinkiling those into your plan will help you combat the "here and gone" news type syndrome that can leave your content coffers empty.
• Reuse what you have.  Repurposing evergreen content is never a bad idea.  Just make sure you put a fresh spin or face on it to keep it lively.

Content marketing can be a real benefit to you and your business.  Plus, the creation of it is truly a labor of love and can be quite satisfying (she says as she feeds her blog monster).  Just keep in mind that with some planning and strategy - and a few good writers - the monster won't go hungry...and, neither will your bottom line!

It's a philosophy, a belief, a mantra if you will...and one I've known to be true throughout my career.  The whole cookie concept of marketing.

No, we aren't talking Chips-A-Hoy here folks.  This is how it goes...

You are making cookies, (yes you can imagine any kind of cookie here people, work with me).  Everyone knows when you make cookies you need lots of different stuff to get the dough to stick together, to make them taste good and be mouth-wateringly amazing when warm out of the oven right?  You've got eggs, flour, butter, chocolate chips, salt..you get the idea.  Good marketing is the same way...you need lots of different ingredients to make it amazing.

In marketing, you can't just use one medium to achieve a successful campaign, and you can't use just one message either.  Consider the possiblities - email, direct mail, splash pages, promotions, shows, magazines, bill boards, personality marketing...the list is endless.  The key to both the great cookie and the great marketing campaign is the right mix.  

First ask yourself - where is your audience looking, what do they do, where do they go?  That combination of answers is where you need to put your message.  

Example?  

You sell custom golf balls, they are geared toward upper crust golfers.  The local paper or a bill board isn't going to cut it here.  What you need is a messaging in and near golf speciality stores in the area, on the courses and in the pro shop.  Let's say it's a flyer, directing them to a web address / splash page.  Use that flyer and page to offer a free ball if they give you their email address...(this is the drip, drip, drip method - we'll get to that soon)!  Ah ha!  Now you have their email, and you send them a % off coupon for buying your product...you've made a sale, and if you play your cards right a long term customer.

The point is you can't just use one flyer in one store, the other point is you can't just use flyers.  Find ALL the possiblities...and use the ones with the best chance of working...the ones that inherently have the best returns.  Don't know which ones those are?  Test. Test. Test.  It takes a potential customer 3 times to see your message before it makes an impression on them.  The chances of them seeing it become greater when you use different "ingredients" or methods of getting that message to them.  

Keep in mind there is a point of diminishing returns...in other words don't overbake your cookie!  How many times can you see the Taco Bell dog before you want to run away from the border?

The right message to the right person at the right time.  In the end, that's all marketing is.

Get your ingredents, fire up the oven, and go for it!  Let me know what kind amazing cookies you come up with!